'Net Features : rob garfhttp://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/tags/rob+garf/default.aspxTags: rob garfenCommunityServer 2008 SP2 (Build: 31104.93)Retailers' Plans for Digitizing the Store http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2014/01/24/retailers-plans-for-digitizing-the-store.aspxFri, 24 Jan 2014 15:59:00 GMT1e469e21-c924-44fa-a132-47b5d0a8ad47:30606Amberly Dressler0http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=30606http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2014/01/24/retailers-plans-for-digitizing-the-store.aspx#comments<hr />
<p>The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nrf.com/">National Retail Federation</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.demandware.com/">Demandware</a> and the University of Arizona recently teamed up to publish, &ldquo;<a target="_blank" href="http://marketing.demandware.com/pdfs/Digitizing_the_Story_Report.pdf">Digitizing the Store, The Next Wave of Online and Offline Convergence</a>&rdquo; to quantify the convergence of POS and e-commerce technology and its impact on digitizing stores.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Close to 250 retailers, primarily in U.S., Germany and U.K., were surveyed as part of the study and what researches found, was that, unsurprisingly, connected consumers (armed with technology and information) are driving change to the retail experience.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Nearly 40 percent of retail executives surveyed now believe that a single platform will simplify the technology environment over the next three years and provide seamless engagement and transactions throughout the shopping journey. In short, many retailers can&rsquo;t keep pace with consumers who use multiple devices and touchpoints to connect with their brands with their existing infrastructure, architecture and applications.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Even though 40 percent of these retailers are considering a single platform to manage customer interactions and transactions, Rob Garf, Demandware VP of Industry Strategy, was somewhat surprised that a third of them are still undecided. He thinks there are two major reasons for their hesitation. The first is that many vendors are still maturing in this area and, secondly, it&rsquo;s hard; it&rsquo;s complex; and it&rsquo;s not like flipping a switch.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The other piece that really stuck out to Garf was that retailers are considering an e-commerce platform at two times the rate than traditional POS.</p>
<p>As for what e-commerce professionals can expect from the same survey next year, Garf anticipates seeing early adopters embracing the single-platform strategy and realizing the value from this approach.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/nrf-demandware_report_large.png"><img height="206" width="600" src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/nrf-demandware_report-resized.png" style="vertical-align:middle;margin:5px;" alt="" /></a></p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/aggbug.aspx?PostID=30606" width="1" height="1">demandwarerob garfwm-ecommerceomnichannelUniversity of ArizonaRoll Out the Red Carpet for Digital Divashttp://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2013/01/11/roll-out-red-carpet-for-digital-divas.aspxFri, 11 Jan 2013 16:30:00 GMT1e469e21-c924-44fa-a132-47b5d0a8ad47:22812Amberly Dressler1http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=22812http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2013/01/11/roll-out-red-carpet-for-digital-divas.aspx#comments<p><strong>Digital divas are a small group of consumers with significant purchasing power - both online and in-person.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>That&#39;s according to&nbsp;the
University of Arizona and<a href="http://www.demandware.com/" target="_blank"> Demandware</a>&#39;s results from a recent survey of 7,000 consumers across the U.S., U.K., France and Germany that uncovered this valuable consumer segment. The analysis revealed that Digital Divas demand a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2012/12/08/multichannel-retailing-in-focus.aspx">streamlined omnichannel experience</a>, as they visit an average of 3.4 different channels during their shopping journey at physical retail stores (70 percent) and retailer websites (51 percent). Additionally, this consumer group is&nbsp;twice more likely to use mobile devices while shopping in stores than non-divas.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Retailers can&rsquo;t ignore exponential value that Digital Divas represent,&rdquo; said Rob Garf, Vice President of Product and Solutions Marketing at Demandware. &ldquo;To address their needs, it is imperative that retailers establish a digital backbone to enable seamless and consistent experiences for these digitally savvy consumers.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>For more information, check out the interesting infographic below, download the full<a href="http://www.demandware.com/New-Executive-Report%3A-Who-are-Digital-Divas-and-Why-Should-Retailers-Care%3F/lp_diva_2013,default,pg.html" target="_blank"> &quot;Who Are Digital Divas and Should Retailers Care?&quot; report</a>, <a href="https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registrations/new?cid=i3wabovgut1i" target="_blank">register for the Webinar</a> to be held in February and/or attend the <a href="http://globalretailingconference.org/index.html" target="_blank">Global Retailing Conference</a> in April.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img style="vertical-align:middle;border:1px solid black;" src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/diva-infographic.jpg" width="600" height="2208" alt="" /></p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/aggbug.aspx?PostID=22812" width="1" height="1">demandwarerob garfwmfeaturewm-ecommerceomnichannelDigital advertising DivasUniversity of ArizonaA Clear Case for the Commerce Cloudhttp://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2012/04/23/a-clear-case-for-the-commerce-cloud.aspxMon, 23 Apr 2012 20:00:00 GMT1e469e21-c924-44fa-a132-47b5d0a8ad47:19588Linc Wonham0http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=19588http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2012/04/23/a-clear-case-for-the-commerce-cloud.aspx#comments<hr />
<p><img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/commercecloud-mini.gif" style="float:left;margin:10px;" height="75" width="75" alt="" /><b>Consumer demands continue to drive technology innovation while e-commerce managers and Internet professionals try to keep pace with their evolving behavior and growing number of touch points.</b></p>
<p>Whether accessed through a tablet, a mobile application or a computer, the website must ultimately deliver a unified experience and maintain a consistent look and feel of the brand. Combining this challenge with the need to anticipate the &ldquo;next big thing&rdquo; in technology to enhance the cross-channel shopping experience, and keeping your digital backbone in optimum shape, might seem downright daunting.</p>
<p><i>So, how can retailers deliver a digital experience that attracts and retains consumers?</i></p>
<p>Simply stated, consider a scalable and flexible cloud-based commerce platform that enables innovation. If your commerce site is frozen in time, bound to on-premise infrastructure that limits growth and necessitates the involvement of outside IT teams for major overhauls, you cannot continually enhance brand interactions. The accelerated pace of consumer control, access and knowledge requires that retailers ready themselves for frequent change.</p>
<p>This cannot be done easily or quickly on an on-premise platform.</p>
<p>Having a digital commerce management (DCM) strategy in place can help retailers better manage all digital interactions with consumers across devices, applications and channels. There are several important facets to DCM, but success is predicated on a cloud delivery model.</p>
<p><i>Here is why is a commerce cloud is essential?</i></p>
<p><b>Innovation is seamless:</b> Commerce in the cloud enables brands and retailers to continuously develop new and innovative digital experiences. New enhancements are frequently and quietly introduced to the commerce environment. Unlike on-premise software, capabilities are automatically delivered without a potential laborious and costly upgrade cycle.</p>
<p><b>Site is open:</b> Openness is key to a successful digital strategy. The commerce cloud enables organizations to invite partners and developers to complement core functionality. Because of the common code base, integration and developer customization is not point-in-time that must be maintained over time.</p>
<p><b>Merchandising control:</b> Cloud platforms also encourage user empowerment that allow experts to drive all aspects of the user experience &ndash; from cross-channel merchandising, to unique innovation and quick reaction to market opportunities. Merchants and marketers have complete control of the consumer shopping experience.</p>
<p>So, while competitors&rsquo; requests are waiting in a queue or hampered by an older version of software, the commerce cloud delivers capabilities to drive brand loyalty and advocacy.</p>
<p><b>Enjoy the &quot;Ah Ha&quot; moment:</b> Every retailer dreams of that magic moment when their business changes forever and consumers bust down their virtual doors, but most cringe when they contemplate how their infrastructure will react to a deluge of traffic. Those occurrences can be overwhelmingly exciting and incredibly stressful at the same time, but cloud platforms should provide peace of mind.</p>
<p>A scalable, secure, and stable foundation ensures an efficient response to heightened traffic and effective allocation of additional capacity when required. An on-premise or merely hosted commerce product might need weeks &ndash; and costly hardware &ndash; to manage this possible surge in traffic. The commerce cloud is already built and ready to plug into.</p>
<p>Retailers often find themselves in reactive modes, working furiously to respond to new customer demands. Commerce that leverages proven cloud environments allows retailers to streamline operations providing more time for merchandising, innovation and the creation of new brand experiences.</p>
<p>This model offers more control of the customer experience and enables faster response to new consumer trends like multichannel, mobile and social commerce. In this digital world in which we live, why invest in anything other than a digital backbone in the cloud?</p>
<p><b>About the Author:</b> <i>As vice president of product and solutions marketing for Demandware, Rob Garf taps into his more than 20 years of retail industry experience. Prior to Demandware, Garf served as the global retail strategy leader of IBM Global Business Services and was vice president of Retail Strategies Service at AMR Research, where he led coverage of customer intelligence and multichannel operations.</i></p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/aggbug.aspx?PostID=19588" width="1" height="1">ecommercecustomer experiencedemandwarerob garfcommerce cloudweek172012